Summary
On the night of the North Korean invasion, Truman
convened the
first Blair House Meeting of his closest advisors. Though the meeting did
not focus solely on Korea, in fact it began with a discussion of the US policy
toward the Nationalist Chinese in Formosa (an issue MacArthur believed to
be of great importance) Truman allowed Dean Acheson to speak regarding the
Korean situation. Gen. Omar Bradley summarized the group's feelings, saying
that the US would have to "draw the line" somewhere, and that Korea seemed as
good a place as any. The immediate results of the Blair House Meeting were
orders to evacuate American civilians from Korea, to provide military supplies
to the embattled South Korean army, and to move the 7TH US Fleet into the
Formosa strait, blocking the People's Republic of China from invading
Formosa while the US was distracted with Korea.
MacArthur's reports grew worse over the next few days, describing the North
Korean rout of ROK forces. The ROK army fled south, to the tip of the
peninsula, in the direction of the port city of Pusan. On June 27, 1950 the
US promised naval and air support to South Korea. Truman further hoped to
discourage the Soviets or the Chinese Communists from getting involved in the
war by integrating US troops into a force from the UN, and claiming the whole
operation to be UN sanctioned and led.
Fleeing across the Han River Bridge, the panicky South Koreans blew the bridge
before all the fleeing South Korean soldiers could get across. Hundreds died,
and men and equipment were stranded on the other side. Major-General John H.
Clark and ROK chief-of-staff General Chae Byong Duk consolidated what
remained of their forces to establish a headquarters at Suwon. In a
personally dangerous move, MacArthur flew in to Suwon and drove up to the front
to see the fighting for himself. Based on his trip to the front, MacArthur
cabled Washington for authority to commit ground troops. Calling his decision a
"police action", Truman allowed MacArthur to move a US regiment to Pusan.
Truman did not, however, immediately send to Korea the number of troops
MacArthur wanted.
On June 30, with the ROK army in dire straits, Truman relented and gave
MacArthur authorization to transfer 2 full divisions from Japan to Korea. For
roughly two-and-a-half months, MacArthur simply tried to prevent the North
Korean army from taking Pusan. Meanwhile, the US conducted a strategic bombing
campaign and blockaded the coastline with warships. While Navy and Air power
had little effect, MacArthur did manage to attain his main goal of holding
Pusan. Also, during this delay, MacArthur was able to transform his out-of-
shape occupation force into an army.
By July 4, 1950, the balance had begun to swing toward the US. On July 7, the
UN asked the US to appoint a UN commander. Truman quickly made MacArthur
Commander in Chief of the UN Command (CINCUNC). MacArthur responded to this
honor by demanding more troops. It was not log before Truman's Korean War
budget neared the tripling of military expenditures recommended by NSC-
68.
Trapped, backed into a corner against the sea, the situation continued to look
bleak for the US/UN/ROK forces in South Korea. UN ground troops, under Lt.-
general Walton H. Walker, commander of the UN ground troops in Korea, spent
the bulk of their time working hard to build the "Pusan Perimeter", a fortress-
like series of entrenchments in southeastern Korea. Still, these entrenchments
offered little chance for US/UN/ROK counteroffensive. The anti-communist forces
seemed stuck.
